16th May 2006, 09:53

Well, I have just sold my ZX 1.4i Allure after three and a half years motoring without trouble. And I thank it for the pleasure it's given me. Although the ZX was already 10 years old and had more than 100.000 km on the clock, I got an excellent price for the car, which was the main reason to sell it. During my ownership I just did regular maintenance, installed a new water pump and replaced all 4 tires around 100.000km. Because of their age. Even Michelin tires don't last longer than 10 years it seems. So, as long as you treat them properly even French cars can be very reliable, whatever some people may say... I'm now looking for another very low mileage pampered car, either a Citroën or a Toyota. Would prefer a Citroën though... :-)

1996 Citroen ZX Advantage 1.9 turbo diesel from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Faults:

General Comments:

I bought this vehicle on Ebay for £1,000 with a full years MOT. It has not let me down in any way at all, so in my view an absolute bargain and in excellent condition too!

Superd turbo diesel engine is more responsive than my old Saxo VTR. It certainly can embarrass those 'boy racers' if needs be.

Nice handling, but don't push it too hard or it might bite back. Perhaps the chassis is not as taught as the Peugeot 306 but respectable enough. I would like to uprate the rear suspension soon if I keep it.

I service it myself so cannot comment on dealers other than that my past experience of Citroen dealers is not good.

I have recently bought a caravan and I am impressed with the towing capabilities of the car. The turbo on the engine certainly helps to keep things moving.

I drive Peugeot 406's and 307's as a part of my work. The Citroen certainly beats them all in most areas and they are Police cars! I would rather have the Citroen in most fast driving circumstances.

14th Mar 2009, 22:46

Completely agree with comments regarding the car's handling - I've had two ZXs and both were fairly stable, but they don't like being pushed to their limits at all.

My current car is a ZX Dimension on 14" wheels, which handles a great deal better than the older 13" wheeled Advantage I kept for a few years.

These cars are generally tough, but both of my cars have suffered from:

Poor headlights and equally poor light unit mounts - the lights themselves seem to be very underpowered whilst their plastic beam aim mounts are too weak, and I seem to go through a set for each MOT! They come as a set for each light - GSF can provide them or they can be bought from Citroen at some £22 a go. The mounts are difficult to fit.

Severe corrosion at the very top of the front shock absorber mountings: The rot is usually isolated to this area, but with both of my cars it had gone right through the top of the mounts, with holes behind the power steering reservoir and battery/fuse box. It looks very weak, but curiously both cars passed their MOTs! I had the welding done though for my own piece of mind. My cars dated from 1992 and 1995 so this rot could be a common problem - I remember a teacher once saying to me that a stressed metal always rusts - well, the ZX is proving him right...

The central locking can be suspect - my first ZX wouldn't lock all its doors in cold weather for example, and my current car has problems too. Sunroofs and electric window winders seem reliable, but rear passenger window winders break.

Other faults I've had include worn-out anti-roll bar drop links, oil leaks from the XUD engine (which I've left as it only loses a few drops) and a very noisy cabin heater fan, which eventually blow the safety resistor in the fan motor rheostat pack.

Other stuff will go wrong, but these are the "highlights"! Overall, fairly reliable cars but don't push them too hard - nasty things can happen (I ended up in a wall, hence I had to get rid of my first ZX!). Go for cars on 14" wheels as they seem to be more stable.